Petri dish



March 10, 1970 J FALQNE ET 3,499,825

PETRI DZ ESH Filed Feb. 14, 1966 INVENTORS. JOSEPH R. FALCONE. BY ANTHONY FALCONE JR.

ATTORNEY.

United States Patent 3,499,825 PETRI DISH Joseph R. Falcone, 217 Cooper Lane, De Witt, N.Y. 14728, and Anthony Falcone, Jr., 207 Oakridge Drive, Camillus, NY. 13031 Filed Feb. 14, 1966, Ser. No. 527,267 Int. Cl. (312k 1/10 US. Cl. 195-139 1 Claim ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A petri dish having a circular tapered sidewall to permit nesting and having a plurality of circumferentially spaced apart lid retaining lugs and stop means formed integral with said sidewall.

This invention has to do with petri dishes, and more particularly with the type used in large volume for the culture of certain organisms, particularly in the production of antibiotics, such as penicillin compounds.

The invention has as an object a single use petri dish embodying an integral structure adapted to be economically produced in volume by being molded of plastic material, permitting disposal of the dishes after a single use, the dishes including means for retaining a closure lid on the top edge of the sidewall of the dishes, the dishes being so formed as to permit the same to be arranged in stack formation, and having stop means for positioning the dishes in the stack formation, whereby there is no adherence between the stacked dishes to permit the same to be readily dispensed from the stack.

The invention consists in the novel features and in the combinations and constructions hereinafter set forth and claimed.

In describing this invention, reference is made to the accompanying drawings in which like characters designate corresponding parts in all the views.

In the drawings- FIGURE 1 is an isometric view of a petri dish embodying our invention.

FIGURE 2 is a vertical sectional view taken on lines 2-2, FIGURE 1.

FIGURE 3 is an isometric view showing a plurality of the dishes arranged in stack formation.

FIGURE 4 is a sectional view taken on line 44, FIG- URE 3.

FIGURE 5 is an enlarged view of the upper left portion of FIGURE 4.

The dish is formed with a flat discoidal bottom and a sidewall 11 extending upwardly from the periphery of the bottom 10, and inclining outwardly, and providing an annular coplanar lid supporting top edge 12.

The angle of the sidewall 11 is such as to permit one dish to be inserted in another for the arrangement of the empty dishes in stack formation, as illustratedin FIG- URES 3 and 4.

A series of lugs 17 are formed on the peripheral surface of the sidewall 11, and extend upwardly a distance beyond the top edge 12 of the dish. The lugs 17 serve to retain a flat closure lid disk 20 on the top edge surface 12 of the sidewall. These disks are formed of porous material, such as paperboard or the like, and serve the dual function of protecting the culture in the dish from contamination, and

3,499,$Z5 Patented Mar. 10, 1970 permitting the regulated absorption or escape of vapors from the culture medium during the processing, or incubation, of the culture. Preferably, the inner surfaces 21 of the lugs 17 incline outwardly at an angle, comparable to that of the sidewall 11, to more readily permit the disk 20 to be positioned on the dishes by automatic lid dispensing mechanism.

The lugs 17 extend downwardly on the periphery of the sidewall 11, and terminate in a shoulder 25 for engaging the top edge 12 of the sidewall of the next lower dish when the dishes are arranged in stack formation.

These shoulders 25 form stop means positioned downwardly from the top edge 12 of the dish a distance whereby a dish nested within another dish is supported by the stop shoulders 25, and with the periphery of the lower portion of the sidewall 11 of the dish spaced inwardly a slight distance from the inner surface of the sidewall 11 of the next lower dish in the stack formation. Accordingly, when the dishes are arranged in stack formation the lowermost dish in the stack, when unsupported, will drop from the stack by gravity.

The structural arrangement of the dish, as described, results in the dishes being particularly well adapted for large volume production by being molded from plastic material in automatic molding machines. However, the stop shoulders 25 prevent the dishes from being wedged together, when arranged in stack formation, permitting the separation of the lowermost dish in the stack by gravity.

This all results in that the dishes can be economically shipped in stack formation, and readily dispensed automatically by conventional dispensing mechanisms, and the lids 20 can be applied to the dishes by lid dispensing mechanism, as the loaded dishes are advanced on conveyor mechanism.

What we claim is:

1. A petri dish having a circular tapered sidewall to permit nesting of one dish within the other in a stack formation, said sidewall having an annular coplanar lid supporting top edge, a plurality of circumferentially spaced apart lid retaining lugs formed integral with said side wall on the peripheral surface thereof and extended upwardly from said top edge, said sidewall being also formed on the peripheral surface thereof in downwardly spaced relation to said top edge with integral stop means for engaging the top edge of the next lower dish in a stack formation, said stop means being positioned radially inward of said lugs, and the inner surfaces of said lugs inclining outwardly from said top edge.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 3/1959 Flack. 2/1963 McLaughlin.

OTHER REFERENCES ALVIN E. TANENHOLTZ, Primary Examiner US. Cl. X.R. 206-; 22097 

